The Italians have blessed us with many marvelous fruits and vegetables. Most of the varieties we cherish today were carried into the United States by Italian immigrants who began arriving in the mid-1800s. Imagine treasuring a fruit/vegetable so much that you carried its seed in your pocket, your suitcase or your bag with all of your earthly belongings on a trip that would last for months to a land about which you knew nothing. It is believed that the Chioggia was brought to the US in the late 1800s. The beet is quite sweet, but what is remarkable is that when sliced it has concentric circles of alternating red and white. When cooked there is some bleeding of the red into the white, but often the concentric circles can be seen after cooking. It is a delicious, beautiful and fun vegetable and quite easy to grow.